Too Much Information

Possum Lodge gets a bunch of computers, prompting Dalton to try to teach Red about the Internet.

Cast (in order of appearance):, , , , , , , ,

DVD: Red Green: Stuffed and Mounted, Vol. 2; The Red Green Show – 1999 Season

Watch the episode on YouTube

DVD Commentary by Steve Smith
{from Stuffed and Mounted}

STEVE SMITH: This episode, "Too Much Information", is actually one of my all-time favorites of the whole Red Green series. I just like the way everything fit together, especially with the storyline– well, you'll see it anyway. But another thing in the show is, it's one of the first appearances of– it wasn't the first appearance, but one of the first appearances by Jerry Schaefer, who plays Ed Frid, an animal control officer. This spitting cobra thing was another– I just had a lot of fun doing it. If you watch the scene carefully, you'll probably see me laughing throughout. Uh, we had an animal control officer earlier in the series called Garth Harble, played by Derek McGrath, but he lived in Los Angeles, and it was very difficult to keep that thing going, so... But we did want to continue a character like that, so we came up with Ed Frid, and Jerry Schaefer's been a fabulous replacement for it.

Segment Summary
See also: Transcript

Plot: Harold's company is getting rid of their old computers and one is brought into the lodge. Dalton sees it and tries to teach Red how to use the computer, but Red dislikes it. He dislikes it even more when he learns that the computer is creating a craze that is threatening the whole area. Dalton tries to teach Red how to use the Internet. In the end, however, the computer blows a fuse. When Red and Dalton try to replace the fuse with a plum, the computer itself explodes in a flash of light and smoke.

Opening Scene: Red demonstrates a new use for a TV antenna.

If It Ain't Broke, You're Not Trying: Mike brings in a locked suitcase for Red to repair.

Harold at the Office: Harold tells Red that he has been promoted to secretary to the vice president. Red is surprised to learn that his boss is a woman.

Talking Animals: Ed brings in a spitting cobra.

Handyman Corner: Red creates a snowball cannon out of a baseball pitching machine.

Visit With Dalton Humphrey: Red questions Dalton's wanting to live with a leper colony in the Yucatan.

Ranger Gord's Educational Films: "Rock Eggs", in which rocks are revealed to actually be eggs.

Visit With Dale: Red is surprised to learn that Dale's girlfriend is taking Dale to the movies and she will be paying for both of them.

Explanations

 * Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a repetitive-motion injury most frequently associated with the extended use of computer keyboards and mice.

Trivia

 * This is one of the only times Red doesn't end a Handyman Corner segment with his signature phrase, "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

Inside References

 * Mike compares Possum Lodge to a dump, as Helmut Wintergarden had done in The Broken Water Pump.

Real-World References

 * The computer saying "You have mail" is a reference to America Online, an Internet service provider famous for its software, which audibly says "You've got mail!" when email has arrived.
 * When Red brings Dalton home, he asks him what he and his wife talked about when they were dating, and Dalton replies, "Amway."
 * Near the end, Red refers to Dalton as "Mr. Gates", a reference to Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft.